This is lesson 2 of 8 which will tell how any boy can make a complete model airplane
which will fly under its own power. 'Warren DeLancey, writer of the articles, was formerly
president of the Illinois Model Aero Club, a group of boys who build and fly their own
models and who hold nine of the ten world's records for model airplane flying. Clip these
articles until you have the complete set, including the directions for flying your machine.

The propeller
for the model airplane should be made of a piece of clear white pine, free from knots
such as can be fond at any carpenter shop or lumber yard. From this cut a rectangular
block, 6 inches long, 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick, and plane the sides smooth and
square.

Any good water or air propeller looks as if the center had been held firm and the
ends twisted into position. The easiest way to cut this is to make from your block a
propeller blank like Fig. I by drawing lines on the block crossways from corner to corner
on the top and bottom. Where these lines cross should be the center of the block, but
measure to see that these points are at an equal distance from the ends and sides. Here
drill a small hole through the block the size of a needle. Leaving a hub around the hole
1/8 of an inch thick, cut or saw of all the wood outside of the diagonals you have drawn,
and the blank will look like the solid lines in Fig. I.

Cut Blades Carefully

Fig II shows one end of the blank carved on top and bottom and one end about to be
cut. Notice that the blades are cut in opposite ways. Carve slowly and carefully, leaving
the wood about as thick as a heavy piece of cardboard. Cut down to the edges of the blank,
but do not cut below them.

Now round the end of each blade as shown in Fig. III. The easiest way to do this is
to first to mark it off with a pencil, being careful to make both ends alike, and then
cut away the wood with a sharp knife. Go over the entire propeller with sandpaper, smoothing
it off and rounding all the edges.

Make Wire Shaft

Fig. III shows the finished propeller with the shaft to which the rubber is attached.
This should be make from piano wire, about No. 10, which can be had at any music store.
Bend one end of this into a round loop of not over a quarter inch diameter, and leave
the rest in a straight shaft an inch and a half long. Push this through the hole you
made in the propeller and bend the end around as shown. Now push the end of this second
loop into the wood so that the shaft cannot be turned without turning the propeller.

A good deal of the success of your model will depend on how well the propeller is
balanced. This is done by holding the propeller by the shaft in an upright position and
allowing it to turn freely. The heavy end will move to the bottom and should be sandpapered
until both ends are the same weight.

Even during the busiest times of my life I have endeavored to maintain some form of
model building activity. This site has been created to help me chronicle my journey through
a lifelong involvement in model aviation, which
all began in Mayo, MD.
There is a lot of good information and there are lot of pictures throughout the website
that you will probably find useful, and might even bring back some old memories from
your own days of yore. The website began life around 1996 as an EarthLink screen name
of ModelAirplanes, and quickly grew to where more server space
...

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